Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Hachette Book Group Canada
Published: 2015
Publisher: Poppy
Recommended Age: 11+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Blindness, Friendship, Romance
REVIEW:
Over ten Goodreads friends recommended this book to me after seeing me read so many contemporaries, so I really had no choice but to give it a try. And I’m more than happy I did because this was a surprising delight. Continue reading
The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Borrowed
Published: September 2016
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Recommended Age: 14+
Pacing: Normal/Slow
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Rape Culture, High School, Romance, Drama
BLURB:
Alex Craft knows how to kill someone. And she doesn’t feel bad about it. Three years ago, when her older sister, Anna, was murdered and the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best—the language of violence. While her own crime goes unpunished, Alex knows she can’t be trusted among other people. Not with Jack, the star athlete who wants to really know her but still feels guilty over the role he played the night Anna’s body was discovered. And not with Peekay, the preacher’s kid with a defiant streak who befriends Alex while they volunteer at an animal shelter. Not anyone. As their senior year unfolds, Alex’s darker nature breaks out, setting these three teens on a collision course that will change their lives forever. Continue reading
One by Sarah Crossan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Borrowed
Published: 2015
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Recommended Age: 13+
Pacing: Normal/Fast
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Poetry, Romance, Family Drama, Siblings, High School
BLURB:
Grace and Tippi. Tippi and Grace. Two sisters. Two hearts. Two dreams. Two lives. But one body. Grace and Tippi are conjoined twins, joined at the waist, defying the odds of survival for sixteen years. They share everything, and they are everything to each other. They would never imagine being apart. For them, that would be the real tragedy. But something is happening to them. Something they hoped would never happen. And Grace doesn’t want to admit it. Not even to Tippi. How long can they hide from the truth—how long before they must face the most impossible choice of their lives? Continue reading
Royals by Rachel Hawkins
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
First Published: May 1st, 2018
Publisher: Putnam
Recommended Age: 12+
Pacing: Fast
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Royalty, Family Drama, Humor, Summertime, Romance
BLURB:
Meet Daisy Winters. She’s an offbeat sixteen-year-old Floridian with mermaid-red hair; a part time job at a bootleg Walmart, and a perfect older sister who’s nearly engaged to the Crown Prince of Scotland. Daisy has no desire to live in the spotlight, but relentless tabloid attention forces her to join Ellie at the relative seclusion of the castle across the pond. While the dashing young Miles has been appointed to teach Daisy the ropes of being regal, the prince’s roguish younger brother kicks up scandal wherever he goes, and tries his best to take Daisy along for the ride. The crown–and the intriguing Miles–might be trying to make Daisy into a lady . . . but Daisy may just rewrite the royal rulebook to suit herself. Continue reading
A Short History of the Girl Next Door by Jared Reck
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
First Published: September 26th, 2017
Publisher: Knopf BFYR
Recommended Age: 12+
Pacing: Normal
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Grief, Contemporary, Sports, Humor, Love
BLURB:
Fifteen-year-old Matt Wainwright is in turmoil. He can’t tell his lifelong best friend, Tabby, how he really feels about her; his promising basketball skills are being overshadowed by his attitude on the court, and the only place he feels normal is in English class, where he can express his inner thoughts in quirky poems and essays. Matt is desperately hoping that Tabby will reciprocate his feelings; but then Tabby starts dating Liam Branson, senior basketball star and all-around great guy. Losing Tabby to Branson is bad enough; but, as Matt soon discovers, he’s close to losing everything that matters most to him. Continue reading
The Heartbreakers by Ali Novak
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
Publication Date: August 4th 2015
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Point of View: 1st Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 12+
Genres & Themes: Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Music, Family, Friendship, Celebrity, Illness
BLURB:
“When I met Oliver Perry, I had no clue he was the lead singer for The Heartbreakers. Unbeknownst to him, I was the only girl in the world who hated his music.”
Stella will do anything for her sister—even stand in line for an autographed Heartbreakers CD… for three hours. At least she met a cute boy at the Starbucks beforehand. A blue-eyed boy who looks an awful lot like…
Oliver Perry. Of course Starbucks guy is the lead singer for her least favorite band. Thanks, universe. But there may be more to Oliver than his world-famous charm, because even after she insults his music—to his face—he still gives her his number. Seriously, what is her life?
But how can Stella even think about being with Oliver—dating and laughing and pulling pranks with the band—when her sister could be dying of cancer? Continue reading
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